Improvement in brick-kilns



PATENT WILLAM L. GRGG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINQIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRlCK-KILNS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 159,091, dated January 26, 1875 application tiled December 4, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. Genes, of Chicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in BriclQKilns, of which the following is a specification:y

The object of .my invention is to provide means for burning bricks and other ceramic products with greater rapidity, economy, and uniformity than has heretofore been attained, and, as far as practicable, to reduce the amount of labor and attention required in the opera tion.

The ordinary brick-kilns in use in this and other countries are temporary structures, of more or less crude construction, and, while involving considerable time and expenditure of fuel in burning, fail to yield a uniform product from the unequal action ofthe heat upon the mass of bricks, and from the im practicabil ity of accurately regulating the application of the heat. Skilled labor and constant attention are also indispensable, and none but those familiar with the operation can properly burn a kiln of bricks.

Various improvements have been made and are the subjectmatter of sundry Letters Patent embodying different constructions of permanent kilns, and of these those known as continuous kilns are most approved of by brick* manufacturers, as economy in fuel and greater uniformity of product are afforded by their use,l although they are, as a general rule, costly in construction, and do not materially reduce the amount of skilled labor required in the management of the fires.

My invention, while embodying all the advantages of the continuous syst-em, provides such facilities for regulating` the application ofthe heat to the contents of the kiln as enables the same to be gradually and regularly burned by ordinary laborers, and with fuel of the most inferior quality, the duration of the operation being also very materially reduced.

My improvements consist kiln having a series of separate chambers, so constructed as to be burned with either an upward or a downward draft, a gasproin combining a v ducer, or apparatus in. which carbonio-oxide and other gases are generated by the slow combustion ot' fuel, and conduits and valves for transmitting the evolved gas to either of the chambers of the kiln, and discharging the vapors and products of combustion from one chamber either directly into the stack or into one or more ofthe other chambers, as may be required ,c also, in providing means for accurately observing the progress of the operation, all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a horizontal section, at the line m o; of Fig. 2,

of a kiln for burning bricks or other ceramicr products embodying my improvements; Fi. 2, a vertical section of the same at the line y y of Fig. l; and Fig. 3, a similar section of a portion of one ot' the chambers, showing the device for indicating the settling of the bricks.

The kiln A is preferably of square or rectangular section, and in this instance is shown as consisting of four chambers, l 2 3 l, having arched tops and sepa 'ated by partition-walls, which meet at a central stack or chimney, C. Access is had to the several compartments by h-inged doors c, which should bc so arranged as to beraised by chains and balance-weights, and are to be lined with fire-brick or other suitable non-conductor. The inside of the kiln should also be lined with lire-brick.

The burning ofthe bricks is eifectcd by the combustion of gases generated in a gus-producer, B, placed contiguous to the,kiln, and connected therewith by conduits, to be presently described.v The gas-producer, which is in general terms a furnace wherein fuel under goes slow combustion, may be constructed upon the plan ofy Siemens, orof Frank, or in any other manner,` found most desirable, and need not be here specifically described, as it, per sc, forms no part of luy-invention. An upper gas-conduit, ll, extends from the producer to the kiln, and is connected by branches, each provided with proper valves or gates, with the chambers l 2 b 4, the several branches opening into the tops of the chambers. Similar conduits B2 B3 13H55 connect the producer .with the bottoms of the chambers l 2 3 4, re-

spectively, cach conduit being provided with a valve or gate. I he lower conduits are here shown as opening into chambers beneath the compartments, such chambers communicating -with the compartments by a series ot' openings. The object ot' this arrangement is to enable the gas to be led into any one of the compartments at either its top or bottom, as preferred; but the same end may be attained by providing a single conduit for each compartment, having openings at top and bottom governed by valves; or a central gas-cond uit may be substituted for the stack shown in the drawings, in which case separate chimneys would be required for the several compartment-s. lhe partition-walls separa-ting the several compartments of the kiln are each provided with a series of upper` draftpassages, c1, near their tops, and a similar series ot' lower draft-passages, a2, contiguous to the tloor of the kiln. These passages are governed by dam pers or doors operated by suitable rods from the exterior of the kiln. Each compartment is likewise provided with an upper stack-damper, c, and alowerstack-damper, c', these dampers governing openings in the central stack -for the escape of vapors and products of combustion from the several compartments.

A suitable number of peep-holes. are to be provided in each compartment, as Well as proper openings for the admission of air to support combustion, which air may, when convenient to do so, be previously heated.

In order to provide means for clearing obstructions from different portions ot" the kiln, I provide a steam-boiler, I), from which pipes (l lead to the various compartments, and may be furnished with separate branches or issu/es contiguous to the various draft-passages and dampers. Steam from the boiler can be blown through the pipes whenever necessary, for the purpose ot' dislodging obstructions that may accumulate in the compartments and passages. In the progress ofthe operation of burning bricks, the mass of bricks gradually shrinks and settles in the kiln, and the period and extent ot such settling enable the burner to determine when to slacken or extinguish his fires. There has hitherto been no means of observing, with any degree of accuracy, the settling ofthe brick, and the skill andjudgment of the operator must be relied on entirely 'in determining the proper time to discontinue the application of heat. In order to indicate with accuracy the settling or shrinkage of the brick, I provide test floats or gages E, which may be of iron, covered with fire-clay or other .non-conductor, and are united to Vertical rods El passing through openings in the arched tops of the compartments. The floats rest upon the top ot" the mass of brick in the compartments, and as the same settles in the progress of the operation, they fall correspondingly, the rods El indicating accurately the exact amount of settling. Marks may be made upon the rods for this purpose, or the rods may carryindexcs adjacent to stationary pieces E2, marked in inches, or otherwise des ignated to show the extent of movement of the test-floats.

rlhe operation of the kiln is as follows: The bricks being properly set or hacked in th'e dil'erent compartments, gas is admitted from the upper conduit, B1, to compartment l, the doors ofthe lowc; draft-passages, a2, in the partition-wall, between compartments l and 2, and the upper stack-damper, c, of compartment 2, having been iirst opened. A moder ate supply ot' gas is lirst admitted and ignited to expel the water-smoke7 or evolvev the vapor from the bricks. This moderate combustion is continued in practice for a period of about ten hours. A stronger heat is then to be applied, (for a period of twenty hours in praetice,) the down draft being continued, and the products of combustion continuing to pass into compartment 2, after which the gas is shut ott from the upper conduit and admitted through the lower, the doors ofthe upper drat`t-passages in the partition between compartments l and 2 are opened, and the lower ones closed, and the upper stack-damper ot' compartmen t 2 is closed and the lower opened. The operation is continued with theup draft for a period of about ten hours, the length of time being dependent upon the nature of the materials to be burned, and being regulated by observation of the testdloats, after which the gas is shut ol' from compartment l, which is gradually allowed to cool, while the operation is continued in the remaining compartments consecutively in a similar manner. It will be observed that the waste heat from one compartment dries and heats up the bricks in the adjacent compartment, so that while the bricks in one compartment are being cooled, those in the next are being burned, those in the succeeding one dried, and those in the last being set, the operation' ot' the dilerent compartments of the kiln thus being consecutive and continuous From the facilities which my linvention a'ords for applying and regulating the heat and changing atpleasure its direction through the mass of material tobeburned, the latter is exposed equaby to its action, and the loss from 'vitritication and excessive burning is reduced to a minimum. Uniformity of product is secured, and the duration of the opera tion greatly` reduced, as, by the use ot' my kiln, a compartment maybe burned in thirty hours, as against from one hundred and eight to one hundred and Iforty-four hours, which is required in the Scotch kilns generally used in this country. Labor is also economized and facilities al'orded for conducting the operation according to fixed rules, instead of depending upon the skill ot' expert workmen, as has heretofore been the ease.

I .am aware that gasyburning` kilns have been heretofore known, and do not, therefore, broadly claim suoh device; neither do I claim a kiln divided into separate chambers or oompartments. v

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a A gas producer, gas-conduits, and valves for upward or downward draft, and kiln having compartments',

with upper and lower dempers, and steek with upperland lower dampers, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with a brick-kiln, of a. v

test float or gage, substantially as set forth.

` WM. L. GREGG.

Witnesses: v

A. T. GAM, U. CUMMINes. 

